I got an email from a friend of mine who is building a BBS app that he wants to have threaded comments. Basically:

- This is the top post

   - This is the reply to the top

      - This is the reply to the reply

He’s using classic ASP, and was looking for a way to avoid having to do a recursive query to get the information. At first I was thinking of some SQL strategies to help avoid it but then thought that XML might be a good answer to it.

XML Document:





   
      

      I'm a top level thread

   
   
      

      I'm a top level2 thread

   
   
      

      I'm a mid level thread

   
   
      

      I'm a mid level thread

   
   
      

      I'm a mid level thread

   
   
      

      I'm a mid level thread

   
   
      

      I'm a top level3 thread

   


XSL Document:







Output:




 
• I'm a top level thread

 


   
• Mid Level Thread

   


      
• Mid Level Thread

   

   

• Mid Level Thread